Is 1.5 years too soon to leave a job?

[Lucia23]

When I started at this job I had an amazing manager who put me on a plan for promotion & was very supportive all round.

Now she has left I find the remaining boss is mostly absent, forgetful & doesn't have a level of interest in my progression. He's also incredibly forgetful so I'm always re-explaining projects.

An example - about 6 months ago I suggested an improvement to a system. Boss agreed my suggestion would be a great improvement & said he would also adopt it. Last week a new senior hire says she has made a system improvement which - wait for it - would mean a return to the old system! She said 'he has suggested you could also adopt it'. I mean what the heck. It also undermines me working towards promotion if this is how the work I do is treated.

I also find the commute too long (1.5 hours each way) & under-staffing putting constant pressure on staff. Boiled down I'm no longer happy. But I am given a lot of flexibility when I need it, which is one good thing. And I like most colleagues.

Is this a bad time to leave a job due to recession fears? And is 1.5 years one of those things that future employers will raise an eyebrow at?

Why do you have to leave before you get a new job lined up? Apply now, get a new job offer and then resign

It's quite an old fashioned view that changing jobs is a bad thing in my mind, I suppose it depends on the career, but I have left jobs after a year, the most I have ever stayed somewhere was 3 years and that was with a job role change within that time, it's quite normal to go in and make some changes, or complete a project, and then move on, it's the quickest way to progress often. So yeah 18 months is fine in my opinion.

I was going to ask what your CV is like and if you are a serial job hopper, then I saw your commute time; that's the perfect excuse for why you left, should you be asked in interviews. I did a similar commute for four years and it was brutal. Yuu can just say you thought you could make it work but it was affecting your work/life balance or some such. Plenty of suggestions on the 'net about how you word it.

I've just done it after 15 months. In my case it was because I didn't enjoy the position (NHS), some of the people were absolute cunts and the work was boring to the point of soul destroying.

My new job asked my reasons for leaving (I left out the cunt part but was honest about the rest).